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81 – Forty Elephants Gang
53 Plays3 months ago
To kick off the new year, Sam tells the fascinating and rebellious story of the Forty Elephants Gang—a notorious, all-female London crime syndicate that operated from the 1870s through the 1950s.
Based out of the Elephant & Castle area, the Forty Elephants were famous for their daring shoplifting operations targeting luxury goods. Led by powerful “Queens” like Alice Diamond (aka Diamond Annie) and later Lilian Rose Kendall (the Bobbed-Haired Bandit), the gang included key members such as Maggie Hill and the Partridge sisters.
They were known not just for crime, but for style, organization, and resilience—using custom pocket-lined clothing, strict hierarchy, and bold confidence to outsmart shopkeepers and police alike. This is a story of women who carved out power in a world designed to deny it to them.
Visit us on Linktree for the collection of links, Instagram, or email us at jeffandsamshow@gmail.com.
Sources
- Ridiculous History Podcast – Classic Episode: The Forty Elephants: London’s All-Female Jewel Thieves
- The Poisoners’ Cabinet Podcast – Episode 188: The Many Crimes of The Forty Elephants
- “A Thousand Blows: How a Women-Only Gang Menaced Victorian London” – BBC Culture
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250219-a-thousand-blows-how-a-women-only-gang-menaced-victorian-london - Forty Elephants – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Elephants - Forty Elephants: South London’s Supreme Shoplifters – London Museum
https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/forty-elephants-south-londons-supreme-shoplifters/
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Transcript
00:00:01
Jeff Rogers
Hello, Sam. Hi, Jeffrey.
00:00:25
Jeff Rogers
Hello, hi and welcome to the Jeff and Sam show. I'm Jeff. And I'm Sam.
Podcast Introduction & Hosts' Musings
00:00:30
Jeff Rogers
and uh we're here for you we're going podcast to you at you whatever you call it you can find us on amazon spotify wherever you get your podcast you should tell people about us you should rate us review us indeed because if you're listening today then that means that you are listening on the first day of the brand new year what yeah this is 2026 it's officially 2026 now right Yeah, well, I mean, for us, it's the 16th of December because we're doing this early. So we haven't quite made it into 2020. Oh, my God, I hope we do. We're gonna. What if we don't? We're gonna. Then people will be listening to us from beyond our graves. We've got shit to do. We've got shit to do. But, Alan, if we don't, go ahead and posthumously release this episode. Thank you And make it, like, give us, like, an awesome, like, intro montage or something. And give us, like, all the gobbles.
00:01:25
Jeff Rogers
Like, gobble it away. i don't really want a gobble for me. Your gobble is fabulous. I'll lift your gobble. But I saw this and I think I might have sent it to you, but won't go. that It says, welcome back. Your 2026 friendship membership has been successfully renewed. Terms, zero refunds, zero cancellations, unlimited chaos.
00:01:47
Jeff Rogers
ah So you're fucking welcome, bitches. We're back. Yeah, we're back. 2026.
Travel Plans & Birthday Wishes
00:01:52
Jeff Rogers
Here we come. It's got to be better than last year. Did
00:02:00
Jeff Rogers
do I just dam us? It's going to be better. We're going to be in a couple of different places this year. We're going to be doing the most. Have you ever been to Albania? No. Okay. It's been popping up left and right. And I don't talk about Albania, so I don't know why it showed up on my like streams.
00:02:17
Jeff Rogers
But I got to go. Yeah. So that's going to be on my list, too. Well, can we start with Egypt? Because in two weeks, we'll be in Egypt. Two weeks, we'll be in Egypt. Do you think I've packed yet?
00:02:30
Jeff Rogers
She did not pack. Okay. Remember our conversation from earlier? she did In fact, we're recording right after we recorded the Christmas show. So right in between records, we i went to a Mexican bakery and got the freshest bread ever. What is it called? Freshest cook cookies. What is this called?
00:02:50
Jeff Rogers
This flaky, delicious delicacy. A panuelo? You're a panuelo. De manzana. Exactly. I don't know. It's so flaky. It just basically melts in your mouth. It's like a Mexican croissant. They're lovely. That's who went to to get like all the stuff for Nick's that night. Oh, the squishy cheese and the bread. So in between records, we like just started shoving shit in our mouth and drinking the soda. and Yeah, what are you drinking right now?
00:03:15
Jeff Rogers
ah A Reed's root beer. You do love a good root beer. Root beer. Root beer. I am drinking just an OG seltzer water, you know? Like, just I needed something a little not I sent Dan a picture of my mug.
00:03:32
Jeff Rogers
Absolutely fabulous mug. Of course. And he said, you are a darling. Darling. Hey, speaking of Dan. Oh, yeah, Dan. So today comes out on, is is January, this show comes out January 1. But what's January 2?
00:03:45
Jeff Rogers
January 2 is the birthday of a kid who likes basketball. Wait, no, volleyball. Sorry, Jack. Yay, sports. Yay, sports. And happy birthday, Jack. Happy birthday, Jack. Oh, my He's 13 years young. 13 years. oh man.
00:04:03
Jeff Rogers
He's 13 years old. Good luck, Dan. Good luck, Blythe. What a fun family. Honestly. So happy to have adopted ourselves. Yes. We got certificates. We're certifiable. We are. We're certifiable. And you guys just became our happy new parents.
00:04:20
Jeff Rogers
um my coat has shipped that's so exciting i'm gonna have the cutest pea pea coat with like an inner zipper thingy that looks like a sweater on the inside you're gonna look good dappa i want to look dappa do you think i'll look dappa i think you'll look dappa dappa like dappa dan sing it for me I really don't want to because that brings back way too many memories that I have previously successfully. how does Singing Dapper Dan bring back memories for you? um You know Annie?
00:04:51
Jeff Rogers
Well, I was that girl in Annie. So that was my solo. Sing us a song, kid. You both got your style.
00:05:02
Jeff Rogers
Help. Anyway. oh Watch her look uncomfortable.
00:05:09
Jeff Rogers
so happy new year happy sam samantha it's 2026 we made it to 2026 that's insane did 20 25 i feel like i as much horrible stuff that happened as much absolute chaos and dumpster fires were released and set on fire it went by in the blink of an eye. Like it's over. blink of an eye. Is there anything this year that you want to like, I don't like the word um resolution resolutions. That's bullshit. And you'll, you'll doom yourself by saying my new year's resolution is this nothing guarantees that you're going to quit something sooner. yeah
00:05:53
Jeff Rogers
but and Just saying that. Yeah. So do you have any like things that you want to do this year? No, I just want to continue like, working
2026 Goals & Friendship Reflections
00:06:03
Jeff Rogers
out, working towards a healthier existence.
00:06:06
Jeff Rogers
um And that's it. that's continue I want to continue those things. you know I want to continue making our podcast great and enjoying it all the while.
00:06:17
Jeff Rogers
um I like the way that you said that, a healthier existence. Yeah. I love that. it's not you know i don't I don't want to become a freaking... I can't think of the word right now. So the only thing that comes to mind right now is show pony. And I know that that's not right. But like, what trying? You are a show pony, Sam. You're the show pony, Sam. That's the only thing. But like, you know what I mean? I don't, I'm not working towards a specific fitness goal. I'm not working towards a specific like, oh, I want to able lift this much weight or do this many squats. I just want to keep being healthy. That's it.
00:06:55
Jeff Rogers
Same, same for me, both like physically I've started like, um, gearing my workouts at orange theory. Like I've been making them a little bit harder because for my birthday in June, I want us to do something that's going to require like real physical strength. What you also need to start doing is training as a sled dog so that when I am not in the appropriate physical shape that we're needing for this, you're going to just put a harness on. I can do it. And pull me on a sled behind you. That's what I pretend like I'm doing anyway. They're like, why are you running on the treadmill like that, Jeff? I'm carrying Sam. She's on my back.
00:07:35
Jeff Rogers
No, but yeah, I'm going to continue. Like, I want to do that hike in June, which is a really hard, difficult hike, but it's my 50th. And there, to me, the fact that I'm as healthy as I am right now, and, you know, i'm I have this therapist that I fucking enjoy talking to this therapist. Yeah. So I'm really trying to do that work on like both parts of myself, the physical and the mental, right? an important thing. And I'm loving every minute of it. And it is just because I want to enter the 50th year as like the best version of the version of myself. And I'm, yeah. Do it to it, girl. feel positive about it.
00:08:19
Jeff Rogers
I think that you have the best attitude for it. And I don't know, you know me, I'm normally like, dark and stormy. I'm fine. But like, I don't know. There's something about me right now. I'm feeling lighter, feeling happier, feeling, uh, feeling like things are doing what they're supposed to be doing. Well, well just because we're talking about this now, I'll tell you that yesterday my therapist said, um can I be nosy?
00:08:44
Jeff Rogers
And I was like, absolutely. Like you're my therapist. You're supposed to be nosy. She's great. And she said, who is this Sam? Oh, Oh no. How did you describe me to your therapist? i said and we also talked about Ashley and Ellen.
00:09:02
Jeff Rogers
And I said, she said, but who is the Sam? She seems to be with you a lot. And I said, it's like a bad habit girl. Sam is.
00:09:12
Jeff Rogers
And I said, she is a force of nature. And I told her about when we met in the ER, when you started however many years ago in the ER and And I said, you know, she walked by me in the ER that day and I saw this rainbow stuff on her and she was just a lot to look at and I was here for it.
00:09:31
Jeff Rogers
And she had a loud personality, force of nature. and I said, she seems a little gay. i told my therapist this. I was like, she seems a little gay. And then like two seconds later, I was like, we're going to be friends. And then we clicked and we clicked and we've been inseparable since. Honestly. And it's, and it's one of those things. I think that my favorite part about it, first of all, thank you. That is the greatest compliment I could have ever like, But she also said she's so happy that I have you and Ashley and Alan as my people, my support system. I said I wouldn't have it any any other way. i said because Truly and Kayla, they are the people that –
00:10:13
Jeff Rogers
There's a thing with good friends like us. We know when to approach each other and we know when we need to back away. When you have to put up the caution signs. You don't even you just don't even have to push them up. Your behavior will tell me when to, yeah oh let's just let's come back to this tomorrow. You know what I mean? And i feel like it's the same.
00:10:34
Jeff Rogers
So that's like one of those things is people might hear us talking. For those of you who don't realize that we've been doing this for a few years, like, It sounds almost like the honeymoon phase, right? Like we, everything's just up and everything's just great and it's just wonderful. But the truth is, is that it's not that way. It's not some fake fairytale friendship. It's, it's, I think that's why it is so solid is because we know how to communicate to each other it's,
00:11:05
Jeff Rogers
There's nothing like we're not hiding things. If our feelings are hurt, we express that in a mature way. Stop yelling at me. Oh my God. Why you screaming at me I think I even said that to you one time in the break room. Why are you screaming at me? And I went, oh my God, I didn't realize. She genuinely had no idea you were screaming at me.
00:11:24
Jeff Rogers
Just yelling. man. I think today, like, that was probably two years ago. i think, I wonder what today's, I'd be like, oh, that's just Sam. She's just as fuck. She's not screaming. She's that force of nature.
00:11:37
Jeff Rogers
Oh, man. Anyway, so yeah, I feel like we're at therapy session right now. i mean, always. This is like what we talked about, i'm a therapist and So yeah, I love it. It's good. and Tell your therapist that I'm happy that you have her as well. And I will share. I will tell her that. But if you wanted to start paying me, i could ah like you take some money too. Me paying you? Yeah. Me paying you? Yeah, might as well.
00:12:00
Jeff Rogers
How about this therapy session we're doing right now? Isn't that payment enough? I'm going to guess. Come on. What do you expect of me? Diva. The world. The world. Indeed. We're going to have the world this year. Goddamn. Ayo.
00:12:15
Jeff Rogers
Okay, did we blab enough? I don't know. Oh my God, i don't know where all that stuff came from. I don't either, but hey. People like that. This is the new year. I think it just came from like- New year, new us. Nope. New year, same us. Cheers, queers.
00:12:28
Jeff Rogers
It's the same us. If you guys ever see a new us, just think something's happening. Commit us. Something is wrong. Commit them. We are in distress. are in distress. Call police. We're asking for help. We're asking for help.
00:12:39
Jeff Rogers
True. If you see a new version of us. And this week, Sam's got her. I get to sit back, relax. Drink your root beer. Drink my root beer. And then your pastries. Yeah. And listen to your story. I can't wait. I think that you're going to like it.
00:12:56
Jeff Rogers
Have you ever seen the movie Ocean's 8? Okay. so Oh, yeah. okay Sandra Bullock. Oh, Sandra Bullock. Oh, my God. Cate Blanchett. All of them. Awkwafina, Rihanna. You keep grabbing your boobs. I don't know why. I'm grabbing up my boobs the whole time. i'm like,
Introducing Alice Diamond & The Forty Elephants
00:13:13
Jeff Rogers
but late I'm talking with them. But also, like, when you grab your boobs, like, you have more boob than me. Well...
00:13:21
Jeff Rogers
That's the only thing I could think of at the time. I was like, damn it. And like your hands are obviously bigger. So that means that like you're. so oh People. Anyway. We we are so a professional. we go above and beyond to be this professional.
00:13:40
Jeff Rogers
We listen. There are podcasts out there that make like the best, most professional podcasts. Everything is just like this. I'm Phoebe Judge. And this is criminal. That ain't us. No. We're the hot mess version. Yeah. No. no Okay. Ocean's eight. Sorry. We digress. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So for those of you who have not seen Ocean's eight, I highly suggest that you watch it and that this story motivates you to do so.
00:14:10
Jeff Rogers
Alice Diamond was born Alice Elizabeth Black in June of 1896.
00:14:16
Jeff Rogers
She was almost born out of wedlock, but her parents got hitched right before she was born. So it wasn't like an illegitimate thing. Oh, thank God. Okay, right? That was a scandal. She was the oldest of seven children born to Thomas Diamond and Mary Ann Alice Black, who was born Mary Geary and then just throughout her life decided to randomly add some names on. Okay. That's fair. Can we just put one in here? And then another one. And then another one. Oh, and I that one Okay.
00:14:47
Jeff Rogers
So Thomas was no angel. He had at least three documented criminal convictions, one of which was for assaulting the son of the Lord Mayor of London, which... Not the Lord Mayor's son. I'm not even sure what the Lord Mayor, if it is still an is or if it it was just a was back at that time, but like it sounds important, right? Right. The Lord Mayor. Very important.
00:15:11
Jeff Rogers
Well, so Thomas just, they're at some sort of political meeting and Thomas goes ham on him. He starts beating him up pushes his head through like a glass pane through a door. And you know, the glass then was, do there it was there. was there. Right. So he smashes his head through the window of this door. And the dude's like real bad fucked up.
00:15:33
Jeff Rogers
So that's just Thomas. Okay. and Just Thomas. Thomas being Thomas. Exactly. um so ah regardless of like dad's influence, Alice and her siblings were told to fear gangs and to keep their heads down.
00:15:48
Jeff Rogers
um They grew up and lived in an area of London that was just predominantly overrun with gangs and criminals and all the all that kind of stuff so they were taught to just like don't draw attention to yourself don't get involved just keep keep the peace right so alice again the eldest of seven children worked at a local nightclub and started trying to help taking care of the family um her only real way to do that because she wasn't getting paid well um was to start a
00:16:23
Jeff Rogers
little of like subtle robbing of some of her customers okay um she also worked as a maid for a wealthy theater producer and was intending to steal from him too but then she realized that his wife was abused and tormented so instead of stealing from him she decided that she was going to help get the woman out of that situation um money was still like non-existent for the family they were relying on her because old Tommy boy was in the clink for putting the Lord May's head through it all. That's so crazy.
00:16:56
Jeff Rogers
Oh, I can't even imagine. i love it. So she stepped up. She went against all of her instincts. She put aside her fear of the gangs to join a female group of shoplifters.
00:17:08
Jeff Rogers
At a young age, became apparent that Alice was in fact following in her father's footsteps. At only 16 years old, she got caught stealing chocolate because, duh. Hello. And then again for robbing a hat shop, which, you know, i probably wouldn't, that wouldn't be my first thing to steal. Actually, i have to pause right there because right now it probably would be one of my things to steal because this hair is just uncontrolled. So, but also it's like the eighteen hundreds right? Yeah. And hats are like the thing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:37
Jeff Rogers
um And then, you know, a little side note, she murdered a man to protect one of her younger sisters, which, by the way, I was having a hell of a time trying to find any information on it. But it was just kind of mentioned in there in one of these articles that I read. So we'll say it because she did it. But then we're just going to pretend like, so what? She was a teenager. She killed a dude. And we're going to move right past it. Okay. Okay.
00:18:00
Jeff Rogers
And then at some point during like the very beginnings of World War One, Alice broke into an ammunition factory. Oh, shit.
00:18:10
Jeff Rogers
intending to use them to break into safes she had used a fake id to infiltrate the facility but was caught and arrested just briefly didn't go to jail or anything they just kind of threw her out our ass and then just a few years later she was put on the map I that. to and and had no qualms about showing no mercy when she was crossed or when one of her own was threatened
00:18:42
Jeff Rogers
i like that so we're gonna sidetrack here um the forty elephants crime syndicate was feared revered and oddly inspiring to many Have you heard of it?
00:18:57
Jeff Rogers
The all woman group. love Love it already. Was notorious for very well-planned successful heists of expensive goods like jewels and furs and clothing from all high-end shops.
00:19:11
Jeff Rogers
They were cunning and calculating and ruthless. Some historians believe that they were actually active for around 200 years. Okay. The name came from their location in the elephant and castle region of South London.
00:19:28
Jeff Rogers
The area described by social reformer, Charles Booth, contained clusters of slums and hovels and the inhabitants were considered the lowest class and most were vicious criminals.
00:19:44
Jeff Rogers
In 1915, at 19 years of age, Alice Diamond was officially named the Queen of the 40 Thieves. She took over the role from Mary Carr, a.k.a. Polycar, a.k.a. like 17 other aliases that she used, but I didn't care to share those, who had been the first notable Queen of the Thieves and had put the elephants on the map.
00:20:07
Jeff Rogers
Not too much is known about her, but the bit we do have is that she was born sometime in the 1860s. At the age of 14, she was convicted of shoplifting. Her mom was dead at this time, and her father, who was also a thief and fraud, was either in prison or out of the country somewhere, fleeing from the law.
00:20:27
Jeff Rogers
She continued her criminal streak and quickly climbed the ranks of the gang that she had joined as a child. There are records from 1881 that indicate that Mary was an inmate at a female penitentiary in Kent that was considered a strict facility for fallen women and run by the Church of England. Fallen women. Oh, yeah.
00:20:47
Jeff Rogers
My, how we have fell. um It is unclear why she was held there. Like, there's just no records of it except for the fact that she was there. But upon her release, she was this new queen.
00:21:01
Jeff Rogers
She was a stunning woman to behold. She married a career criminal, and it's believed that Carr's home that was located on what was called, quote, one of the ugliest and most sordid streets in London was used as the headquarters for the female gang.
00:21:18
Jeff Rogers
Her ruling time in the syndicate was so influential that she, and she was so charismatic that it said that she was the inspiration for many paintings and the Walter Melville play, the worst woman in London. Like what an honor. yeah I would. I'll take that and wear it as a badge. yeah Absolutely.
00:21:38
Jeff Rogers
Mary had many arrests and convictions and prison sentences over the years, but in what appeared to be the beginning of a rather precipitous downfall for that queen, Mary was charged with and convicted of kidnapping a six-year-old boy.
00:21:52
Jeff Rogers
However... It turns out that the boy had been sold to like an ally male gangster affiliation group by his parents because they didn't want him.
00:22:05
Jeff Rogers
And that male gangster was like, hey, you're a lady. Look after this child. So Mary didn't kidnap anyone. But unfortunately, she was convicted of it. and people were kind of like, yo, we don't kidnap kids. Yeah. So, um it yeah.
00:22:19
Jeff Rogers
So the kid was found in Mary's home 10 months after his... disappearing and his parents were like no no we don't want it back so he goes into the system and still Mary gets convicted okay her arrests continued she stepped down from her throne to take up living in Manchester peacefully and posing as Lady Mary K in a very long and successful con in which she became just loaded living out her time in Manchester she died peacefully etc etc
00:22:51
Jeff Rogers
So at this point, Alice was unanimously chosen for the newly vacant position. The queens weren't elected. They were more like it was just. Who was the most respected? Who was who who was going to do the best job? So Alice took the place of Mary again, 19 years old.
00:23:10
Jeff Rogers
Her nickname was Diamond Annie, and not just because of her name, but because she wore so many diamond rings that she used them as her own version of brass knuckles. Holy shit. Okay.
00:23:24
Jeff Rogers
She didn't hesitate to use force or violence when necessary, and there's many accounts citing that Alice had, quote, a punch to beware of. Wow. Wow. she was tall she was pretty she was strong and most of these women in a time early 1900s England like women were not tall towering figures but a lot of the women in the 40 elements were like 5'9 they were gigantic so there are some like rumors that these women were Amazons just rule in London it's kind of cool but
00:23:59
Jeff Rogers
Annie, Diamond Andy, Annie, ah ruled with absolute authority and took the 40 Elephants to completely new heights.
Leadership & Legacy of Alice Diamond
00:24:07
Jeff Rogers
Another aspect of her leadership was her influence and matriarchal role with the other girls in the gang.
00:24:13
Jeff Rogers
She kept a very close eye on any men that her girls interacted with, and they required her approval before starting any relationships. All of the members seemed to have no issue with this process because they understood the need for discretion when bringing somebody into the fold. So male partners would never become a part of the gang, but they would undoubtedly end up with like inside information about the comings and goings, the jobs, who was in the group. So they had to be very careful about that.
00:24:40
Jeff Rogers
um The gang was notably more cutthroat and violent under Alice's rule. One of her sisters joined the gang to be a part of it, and then her brother Tommy became a member of ah one of the male counterpart gangs.
00:24:53
Jeff Rogers
Together with Maggie Hill, her lieutenant, the gang wreaked havoc throughout all of London. Police consider the duo, quote, the cleverest shoplifters in the country.
00:25:04
Jeff Rogers
And then their associates associates and other gangs claimed that the two were the most expert thieves in the world. In 1925, one of the girls ah took issue with Alice's open disapproval of her relationship and refusal to support a marriage.
00:25:21
Jeff Rogers
The couple married against Alice's wishes and behind the backs of the whole crew. And then when it was uncovered... something that is referred to as the Battle of Lambeth unfolded.
00:25:33
Jeff Rogers
In what was intended to be a message to the girl and all the remaining or future members of the crew, Maggie Hill, who was described as volatile and violent baby-faced Maggie, and Alice unleashed an attack on the couple that led to an all-out brawl in the streets with police. Like, just people going crazy all over the place. This gang is, yeah. So Maggie and Alice were thrown in jail for a bit, but then then released shortly after.
00:26:00
Jeff Rogers
ah The 40 Elephants was also referred to as the 40 Thieves, although there were many more than 40 members. They were elusive and untouchable, but that didn't stop them from living an absolutely lavish life.
00:26:14
Jeff Rogers
In addition to their criminal pros prowess, they were also very well known for their vibrant and outrageous history. outrageous parties at social clubs and pubs which was mostly unheard of at the time because again this is early nineteen hundreds they're a group of women and they're throwing bangers okay just all out raucous night night parties that drifted into the mornings just amazing yeah and it was like People from all over would hear, they'd be like, oh, the the elephants are having a party, you know, and they would all show up. And then the owners of whatever venue they were hosting it at just loved it. They were like, well, let's squirrel away all of our valuables, but yeah, let's bring them in. your diamonds. They're a lot of fun.
00:26:57
Jeff Rogers
and they bring in a lot of business and, you know, they, they were well-respected. Huh. They, they took this area of crime and and craziness and they kind of,
00:27:09
Jeff Rogers
gave it some rule of law yeah you know the females were backed by really creative here the elephant and castle mob okay which was based out of elephant and castle um and it was the all-male gang run by the mcdonald brothers operated out of an old rundown tavern called elephant and castle oh geez Like, come on, guys. yeah They were known as a sprawling, powerful army of all-male smash-and-grab artists, burglars, receivers, hard men, and crafty villains.
00:27:44
Jeff Rogers
They served as kind of the muscle and and for enforcers for the, quote, tightly run, neatly organized collection of cells led by their formidable queen.
00:27:56
Jeff Rogers
A good number of the 40 Elephants girls were wives, girlfriends, or family members of the boys in the Elephant Castle mob. And as it turns out, Diamond Annie, or Alice, her longest relationship ever was with Burt MacDonald, who ran the Elephant Castle mob.
00:28:12
Jeff Rogers
um Although there are police reports dating back to the 1700s, that had the 40 elephants trademarks and signatures all over them. They were most active during 1870s to 1950s, which were the years when they were led by Mary Carr and Alice Diamond. I bet you they had all of their documents from the 1700s. I bet you they kept them all. Of course they did. Membership, everything. Yeah.
00:28:37
Jeff Rogers
So Maggie Hill, who later became Hughes after marrying real criminal, okay, aka Babyface Maggie, took over running the show after Alice stepped down in the 1930s.
00:28:49
Jeff Rogers
um After Alice left the gang, she did not quite leave crime. She continued her... exploits, um, buying a brothel and then running it and selling all sorts of goodies out of the brothel. Okay.
00:29:08
Jeff Rogers
So she stepped down as queen. Um, and Maggie steps up kind of goodies where she's selling all sorts of things. Oh my, oh my stars. Yeah. Well, so, in Maggie, was arrested for blinding a police officer with a hat to pin.
00:29:27
Jeff Rogers
Okay. This is so Peaky Blinders or something. so let me tell you. Holy shit. This whole thing is like, okay, but yes, exactly. Exactly.
00:29:38
Jeff Rogers
Exactly. So she spent four years in prison and then after her release, she retired from the gang. Her successor, Shirley Pitts, ruled the organization until her death in 1992. So 1992, this fucking gang was still going strong. That's incredible. Okay.
00:29:54
Jeff Rogers
So the group faced some challenges and a little bit of a decline during the Great Depression because who didn't, right? Yeah. And then there was also... Like you were there. like say Because who didn't? Didn't we all? We did. Apples were expensive.
00:30:12
Jeff Rogers
i It was just so matter of fact the way you said it. Like, didn't we all? It was such a hard time. Oh, my. Oh, jeez. It was hard. You couldn't get your shoes. We had to stand in line. was the whole thing.
00:30:25
Jeff Rogers
Bread was moldy. Oh, my God. It was bad. And you couldn't get milk anywhere. You couldn't milk anywhere. It was horrible. Oh, God. Who are we? Okay, let's come back. Here are. we are Okay, we're back. um So yeah, Great Depression was bad. um And during that time, there was actually an increase in gangs that were far more violent and less organized. So you end up with like Yeah, the 40 elephants are this absolutely solid force, but then you have a bunch of gangs and a bunch of like, kind of solo criminals coming in to the area, to London, who are wreaking their own kind of havoc in a completely chaotic way that was not respected. So they were violent and and like, with no intent, you know, it was there was nothing that they were doing except for creating violence.
00:31:17
Jeff Rogers
So how did they do it though,
Heists & Exploiting Fashion in 1920s London
00:31:19
Jeff Rogers
right? What made this such a special and successful and infamous group, right? Besides the fact that they were all women,
00:31:27
Jeff Rogers
By the early 1900s, London was booming. They had over 100 department stores, which nowadays sounds like nothing, right? But it's the 1900s. It's 100 department stores in one city. It's crazy. um Changes to procedures had the merchandise more easily accessible. They were hanging out on racks. They were displayed on counters and tables, just begging to be taken, all right? Because why not? Mm-hmm.
00:31:50
Jeff Rogers
Mm-hmm. According to a source matter expert, there was a list written down by a friend of the family that contained a set of rules called the Hoister's Code, which was the simple backbone for the organization. The list had been originally written down with the intent to sell it to newspapers, but it was never published. And some believe that that's because the influence that the elephants had over reporters. Like they didn't want to risk publishing something that was going to upset these women because why would they, right? Stay on the good side.
00:32:19
Jeff Rogers
The rules were quite simple. And as I was reading these, I kind of realized that they were basically like the rules I had to live by when I was playing lacrosse in college. yeah So rule number one, no drinking before a raid and early hours to bed.
00:32:35
Jeff Rogers
Simple, right? Number two, proceeds from a job are equally shared by the group members involved, no matter what their role, which is kind of a novel idea. Number three, members must not steal from each other, their money or their boyfriends.
00:32:52
Jeff Rogers
Fair. Three simple rules. yeah The tight knit crew used many tactics and they were always just perfectly organized. The whole gang was divided up into smaller cells and allocated to different parts of the city. Um, it helped to keep the police from catching onto their methods or their appearances.
00:33:11
Jeff Rogers
Some of their heists involved disguising themselves as maids or housekeepers. They had falsified references that were verified by fake people, obviously, which were other members of the gang. And then they would insert themselves into these wealthy households and rob them blind. Just cut and like just clean them out and then be gone. huh Nowhere were to be found. They also occasionally did massive heists with so many members rushing into a store that the shop owners and security were too overwhelmed to stop them. And then they would just kind of like smash and grab everything. And that was called the crush.
00:33:47
Jeff Rogers
Everyone would run in. People would all be grabbing stuff. Sometimes people would be like caught. No big deal because the majority of the people would get away and they would all have stuff. And then the ringer was a tactic that had the thieves swapping goods that had like obviously not been bought. So they would go up, they would ask the shopkeeper, hey, I'd like to see this, this, this. And then he'd have all this stuff out on the counter. And then they would say, oh, can you show us this as well? And then as he's going to get that, they're just yoink and stuff. yeah Okay. And things simply got lost in the shuffle, literally down the skirts of the hoisters, which is what they call themselves.
00:34:27
Jeff Rogers
They also employed diversionary tactics. Some of the women would stuff pillows in their dresses to fake pregnancy and then fake collapse. Because what better way to divert the attention of a kind, caring man than to have a lovely lady swooning, right?
00:34:46
Jeff Rogers
Under Alice's rule, the gang also branched out from just shoplifting and hoisting jobs. She created a new, broader image and like totally expanded the playing field for the elephants.
00:34:57
Jeff Rogers
They began posing as guests at high society events. And so these lowest class women had absolutely no trouble fitting in. They infiltrated parties hi hidden in plain sight.
00:35:10
Jeff Rogers
They used the time to pickpocket the fancy pants around them, stealing all sorts of jewelry and money. And they also used the events to gather information on the attendees that allowed them to stage burglaries later. Intel. It was amazing. Wow. So just diabolical. Yeah. One of their most impressive heists was organized citywide.
00:35:30
Jeff Rogers
Two days before Christmas, 1927, the gang carried out targeted and timed heists throughout the entire city. It was chaos, it was also organized. But it had the police just...
00:35:45
Jeff Rogers
scratching their heads. They had no idea which way to turn because there was a store getting robbed here, there, everywhere, right? And so one police detective said, quote, dressed to kill, those girls would descend on the west end like a swarm of locusts.
00:35:59
Jeff Rogers
um they had a unique plan for any of those oh shit moments. They had reserve funds that were used to bail out any members who were caught. They had an army of semi-questionable lawyers in their pocket to help get people out of tight spots. And they were successful with it.
00:36:16
Jeff Rogers
In addition to influence in the news world that we already know about, they were also believed to have deals with dirty cops. This time period, when they were really thriving, was rife with corruption. It was the time after the Industrial Revolution and in between the two world wars, so they were just thriving.
00:36:33
Jeff Rogers
um In addition, as I said, the ladies were cunning and calculating. They took advantage of the misogynistic time and used it... um to make this work for them women at the time had very little that they were allowed to do on their own shopping was one of them so we're going to take that and use it absolutely yeah the women in the gang were always well-dressed well-spoken and the shopkeepers wanted to respect the privacy of these ladies right because there's nothing so grievous as offending a lady
00:37:08
Jeff Rogers
so they never looked too closely at them. Women's fashion at the time was poofy, to put it mildly. Lots of skirts, lots of layers, that something called yeah hoops and bustles. I don't even know what those are.
00:37:21
Jeff Rogers
That like made the tent type thing. There's dresses that were basically like you you had to climb into them like a child's climbing cage. What are you wearing? I'm wearing hoops and bustles. Hoops and bustles. hoed bustle I kind of picture them walking around like this. Like, I don't know. Like a family of four under there. Right.
00:37:39
Jeff Rogers
Right. um But this clothing was perfect because they would have it specially tailored to have hidden pockets, compartments and hooks that could be used to hide the stolen items.
00:37:53
Jeff Rogers
Also, at the time, it was assumed that women were honest and law-abiding. So they also used that to their advantage. Nobody was quick to assume that a woman would be stealing from them or conning them. like So I love this because they've been doing this for 200 years.
00:38:09
Jeff Rogers
And still, people don't give women the credit that they do. that they They're just ladies. They're just ladies. They just they can't do anything like that that. They're just not capable of it.
00:38:20
Jeff Rogers
I am woman, hear me fucking roar. Asshats. Truly. um But so with most gangs and organized crime groups, the 40s had their own territory that they claimed as like their own group, right?
00:38:33
Jeff Rogers
Any gang activity inside their zone was charged a percentage. If those perpetrators of that crime in their zone was refused, the elephant and castle mob was unleashed on them or their families until the fees were paid. They dealt out brutal beatings and even did a little bit of light kidnapping here and there until the people caved.
00:38:55
Jeff Rogers
And they always caved. Mm-hmm. Just formidable. The the whole, that the elephant castle mob and then the 40 elephants together, they were just unstoppable. Oh, because they had weapons in their hats.
00:39:08
Jeff Rogers
I'm just saying. Yeah, honestly. um They were also paid by some businesses to stay off their hit list. and they had basically a near continuous like positive cash flow, even when they weren't pulling jobs.
00:39:24
Jeff Rogers
Um, so even though the gang relied on the elephant castle mob to lay down these beatings on dirtbags that tried to disrespect them, the women, as we know from Maggie Hill, um, also carried hidden weapons to protect themselves or just to fight back if the cops got involved. So they had their hat pins, they had knives, they had hidden blades, they had, like,
00:39:46
Jeff Rogers
stick type things and then those leather type things that police used to use that like just they were wicked it was great They're so cool.
00:39:57
Jeff Rogers
um Once Alice took the throne, they were less averse to like delivering their own justice to those who wronged them. um They were exceptional at stealing, but they weren't limited to that. They were also really good at blackmail. okay They would s seduce married men, because again, this is a gang of women. They would seduce the married men and then force them to pay fees to keep quiet about their weird, scandalous proclivities. Jeez. Sometimes it was a lump sum, but other times it was like a recurring fee. So they now had this person like on the hook and they weren't letting them go And then sometimes the ladies would lure a man
00:40:33
Jeff Rogers
into this is just so weird to me, but they would lure a man into following them down like a deserted alley. Like that's how desperate are you? Come on But it's also a man. i know. Please.
00:40:46
Jeff Rogers
Yeah. Well, and then they would like cause a ruckus and claim that they were attacked by the man and then threatened to go to the police. And then all of a sudden, like these other women would come out of the woodwork and be like, yeah, we saw him beat her. They were obviously members of the gang as well. And so,
00:41:01
Jeff Rogers
uh to avoid embarrassment because this dude just followed this lady down a back alley um he would be like here take it all take all my money take everything gone so uh despite the growing notoriety the gang did stay untouchable and avoid spotlight for many years they lived their lives with extreme risk had they been caught and when some of them were occasionally caught they faced punishment of months up to a year of genuine hard labor and again early 1900s hard labor was hard fucking labor okay it wasn't some of this bullshit that might be considered hard labor nowadays um or jail time.
00:41:38
Jeff Rogers
However, most of the women in the gang saw that the life of crime and risk was worth it because they came from poverty and they would rather face criminal punishment than starvation, sickness, and homelessness. um Most of the members were lifelong. They passed their knowledge down to other family members.
00:41:54
Jeff Rogers
um Some of those reserve funds that I was talking about earlier were set aside to help supply the families of any of the girls that were caught and in prison. They looked after the family in ways that the male gangs at the time did not.
00:42:06
Jeff Rogers
Typically, if a male gangster was sent to prison, their families suffered and were destitute until the man returned. But Alice didn't let that happen to her gang. In order to be an active member, there was an orientation period, okay, and an apprenticeship that had to be completed and documented completed.
00:42:22
Jeff Rogers
So this wasn't just like, ah hey, come on in. Let's start stealing shit. That's insane. It was well organized. um They typically worked their heists in small groups or pairs to avoid um too much wanted unwanted attention.
00:42:36
Jeff Rogers
And as they gained notoriety and started attracting the attention of authorities, Alice like kind of expanded out. They started using decoys, and then they used fast motor getaways getaway cars to pull jobs over like other parts of London and then some of the surrounding areas as well.
00:42:52
Jeff Rogers
um They started using cross-dressing so that some of the girls would appear as a couple instead of two females, because I was kind of starting to be on the cops' radar.
00:43:02
Jeff Rogers
They also created a massive distribution network to quickly change their stolen goods into money, because the stuff that they were stealing couldn't just be like, couldn't just be like oh, okay, well, we'll let the the heat settle down, and then next week we'll go about wearing that necklace or that fur or whatever. So they had to get rid of it.
00:43:22
Jeff Rogers
um So they needed ways to make cash out of the things that they had obtained. So they started this network of fencers to take and move the goods. They used black market clothing stores, thrift shops, and pawn brokers to move the products discreetly.
00:43:37
Jeff Rogers
The clothing stores had no qualms about taking the stolen clothes. They would change the labels around and then they would resell it under like a different name, but they would get a profit from it. um the The thrift stores and pawn shops obviously never asked questions. The ladies would walk in with some sort of like absurd jewelry or something and then they would walk out with a pocket full of spendable money.
00:43:58
Jeff Rogers
um When they were being pursued by police officers after a heist, they would use high-powered cars to escape. But if the car was stopped, somehow the goods were nowhere to be found.
00:44:09
Jeff Rogers
The haul had already been taken by some of their male counterparts from the Elephant Castle mob, like through some crazy-ass sleight of hand that the police never saw coming. So they'd pull the car over full of women and be like, there's nothing in here because it was already gone.
Legacy of the Forty Elephants
00:44:26
Jeff Rogers
When they were pulling jobs that were out of the city, They used the railways and the trains, and they would leave empty suitcases at each of the stops on their way out and then fill each of them on their way back, and other ladies would pick it up.
00:44:40
Jeff Rogers
For many, many years, the 40 Elephants Crime Syndicate became the most notorious and successful group of criminals in the history of all of London. They swindled and stole their way through the West End of London and then throughout all of London.
00:44:53
Jeff Rogers
Quote, the queen may have been the unequivocal leader, but the equal share of booty and the communal funds available to those arrested helped foster a sense of equality and knit the syndicate together.
00:45:09
Jeff Rogers
That was a quote from the book Alice Diamond and Her 40 Elephants by Brian McDonald. He's one of like the few that really dove into this.
00:45:19
Jeff Rogers
um And as much as we are trained to dislike and sometimes hate criminals, you can't help but admire Alice Diamond and her 40 elephants. They ruled London for decades.
00:45:31
Jeff Rogers
and many, many more years than that, but they lived like queens. Though they came from troubled backgrounds and poverty, they chose to simply reject what life had offered them and take what they wanted instead.
00:45:44
Jeff Rogers
Alice took a ragtag group of girls and women who would have otherwise been forced into prostitution, workhouses, starvation, poverty, and early deaths from the sickness that was rampant in that lower social class. She gave them a leader to rally behind, a cause to support, and a strong, scary family that could rival any of, like, the Italian, Russian, Irish mobs that we know and love, right? Mm-hmm. She gave them the chance to cling together and climb out of the shit circumstances that they had all been born into. Boom.
00:46:15
Jeff Rogers
40 elephants. That was so good. So the Peaky Blinders thing. Obviously, during, like... researching this Peaky Blinders came up all the time and everything that I read and listened to kind of said the same thing we we there's all these shows there's all these movies The Godfather Peaky Blinders like everything about gangs and mobs and mafias it's all these like dude things of course right it's the man it's the family it's that kind of stuff and
00:46:47
Jeff Rogers
they all They all said the same thing. they were like they They were so well known, but they were still so under the radar that only semi-recently they decided that they were going to make a ah show about it.
00:47:01
Jeff Rogers
It's called A Thousand Blows, but it's kind of a twisted... The producers didn't want to make it only about the 40 elephants. They like added some other criminals in there and stuff. But that's really the only thing besides McDonald's book about them. That's like the only thing that there is. about There's any statues in London.
00:47:23
Jeff Rogers
I mean, there's like a very massive elephant in elephant and castle. Wow. Yeah. But so cool. That was good. Strong women. Strong women. And yeah, they were criminals, but fuck it. They had no option, They had no option. Like you said, it was either that.
00:47:41
Jeff Rogers
Or prostitution. Sex work. Yeah. And they said, fuck you, world. I'm doing what I want. We'll what we want. Yeah. That was good. So on that note, happy new year, guys. Happy new year. Say fuck what the world gives you and take what you want.
00:47:55
Jeff Rogers
And we're only here for a good time. Not a long time. Goodbye.